Venerable Anuruddha, addressing the mendicants directly
Form
A formal address and a bare statement of outcome
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★ — the first discourse in this vagga where Anuruddha himself teaches unprompted, naming a new outcome not stated in SN 52.1-6
Why this discourse
Confirmed by direct reading, this is the first discourse in this vagga where Anuruddha himself takes the initiative, using the formal monastic address (“Reverends, mendicants!” — “Reverend,” they replied) to teach unprompted, rather than answering a question or reporting a private reflection interrupted by another mendicant.
Reading guide
Anuruddha as teacher, not respondent
This project's own observation: every discourse before this one in the vagga has cast Anuruddha as answering someone else's question or reflecting privately; here, confirmed by direct reading, he formally “addressed the mendicants” himself, initiating the teaching.
A new outcome named
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse's own specific claim — that the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, developed and cultivated, “lead to the ending of craving” — is not stated in any of SN 52.1-6's own accounts, which named great direct knowledge, the thousandfold galaxy, or simply defined the practice without naming this specific result.
A title naming its own content directly
This project's own observation: unlike most discourses in this vagga, whose titles name a place or occasion (Thorny Wood, the bank of the Sutanu), this discourse's own title, “Taṇhākkhaya” (“the ending of craving”), directly names its own doctrinal content instead.
Key terms
āvuso bhikkhavo — “Reverends, mendicants!” — the formal monastic address Anuruddha uses to open his own unprompted teaching
āvuso — “Reverend,” the mendicants' own formal reply, confirming they are ready to listen
taṇhākkhaya — “the ending of craving” — this discourse's own title and its own specific claimed outcome for the four kinds of mindfulness meditation
cattāro satipaṭṭhānā bhāvitā bahulīkatā — “the four kinds of mindfulness meditation... developed and cultivated” — the same cause named throughout this vagga, here yielding a specific new result
kāye kāyānupassī viharati — “meditates by observing an aspect of the body” — the same plain formula already met throughout this vagga
The text
The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. There Venerable Anuruddha addressed the mendicants: “Reverends, mendicants!” “Reverend,” they replied. Anuruddha said this:
§2“Reverends, when these four kinds of mindfulness meditation are developed and cultivated they lead to the ending of craving. What four? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body … feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. When these four kinds of mindfulness meditation are developed and cultivated they lead to the ending of craving.”
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Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 3
How does this discourse's own occasion differ from SN 52.1-6?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading: the first discourse where Anuruddha initiates the teaching himself.
Question 2 of 3
What new outcome does this discourse name for the four kinds of mindfulness meditation?
Correct: A. A specific claim not found in SN 52.1-6, confirmed by direct comparison.
Question 3 of 3
How does this discourse's own title differ in kind from most other titles in this vagga?
Correct: A. Most titles in this vagga name a place or occasion (Thorny Wood, the Sutanu); this one names the teaching itself.
